Playtonic's Yooka-Laylee

[Mr Do 71]

4 minutes ago, nightwaxon said:

Who are these people?

 

 

So called YouTube celebrities, I think?

[angel]

Sterling is an ex-pat and ex Destructoid reviewer who struck out on his own with a patreon. He can be ok, but he can also be a berk. He's best pals with Colin Moriarty, another ass clown, who somehow even ended up on Joe Rogans podcast after being forced to quit kinda funny games, another substandard youtube outlet (who dont even talk about news, and are so endlessly fascinated by their own daily activities that they cant discuss games without chortling at each others boring exploits).

 

Yeah, they're kind of shit.

[angel]

I know I harp on about EZA being so good, but in comparison Sterling, Kinda Funny, IGN and Gamespot etc are so bad, so utterly crap outlets, they are almost a poison on the industry.  They really wind me up sometimes in how crap they are, and how they sneer about games. Games that are their lifeblood, so they could have a little bit more respect for them and their creators. Hell, even Angry Joe has a lot more integrity and is more well researched than those fannies.

[George Clooney]

12 minutes ago, angel said:

When he's even criticising the deliberate babble-speak, you know you're dealing with people less knowledgable about videogames than ourselves.

 

How do you mean? He mentions it was from Banjo Kazooie and says it was annoying there and is worse here.  How does not liking it make him less knowledgeable?

[angel]

2 minutes ago, George Clooney said:

 

How do you mean? He mentions it was from Banjo Kazooie and says it was annoying there and is worse here.  How does not liking it make him less knowledgeable?

 

He talks like he didnt expect a kickstarted game to not have a full voice cast, rather than understand that budgetary concerns and tradition would dictate they took the same sythesised speech approach as Banjo.. His review is a list of complaints of things that everyone else who backed it would be expecting.

[squirtle]

32 minutes ago, angel said:

Calm the hyperbole though scott, I dont mind his criticisms of BOTW, certainly im baffled by the the need for weapon degradation in an arcade-adventure and a small run meter permanently above your head, they seem like puzzling design choices. This 2/10 and neogaf baiting seems a different level of trolling though, even a 4/10 would have got his point across - he doesnt like platform collectathons. I think he's using the fact that he's backed it to try and pretend he's allowed to give it a kicking. It all seems an attempt to raise his profile rather than save anyone from so called bad game.

It's not an arcade adventure.

[angel]

4 minutes ago, APM said:

It's not an arcade adventure.

 

It is, arcade adventure is about the most loose term available for a videogame. It's an adventure game with arcade skill elements.

 

If you're really going to argue this irrelevant syntax based point by saying it's not an adventure, its open world, feel free.  Zelda is an adventure game, with arcadey controls.

[George Clooney]

4 minutes ago, angel said:

 

He talks like he didnt expect a kickstarted game to not have a full voice cast, rather than understand that budgetary concerns and tradition would dictate they took the same sythesised speech approach as Banjo.. His review is a list of complaints of things that everyone else who backed it would be expecting.

 

I'm honestly not sure how you took that from his review - he doesn't mention a lack of actual voice acting ever, and actually compares it to another game where the protagonist didn't have full voice acting. It doesn't sound like he was expecting anything else in that department.  He complains about the noises used, but that is not the same as saying it should have been voice acted.

[angel]

I dont think any of his complaints regarding the character speech sounds are correct. It's a budget, kickstarted, unity game made on a (relative) shoestring, and it uses the same speech delivery method as it's predecessors.  Sterlings just nit picking.

 

Or put it this way, everyone backing it will have expected the babblespeak.  People have paid for a Banjo game.  Almost a decade ago, people were going mad that Nuts and Bolts wasnt a Banjo game, it was new. Now we get a Banjo game, they complain that it's a Banjo game.

[deerokus]

Every review I have read has complained about to overly-confusing hub world. It's clearly a problem. 

[Kevvy Metal]

1 hour ago, angel said:

Calm the hyperbole though scott, I dont mind his criticisms of BOTW, certainly im baffled by the the need for weapon degradation in an arcade-adventure and a small run meter permanently above your head, they seem like puzzling design choices. This 2/10 and neogaf baiting seems a different level of trolling though, even a 4/10 would have got his point across - he doesnt like platform collectathons. I think he's using the fact that he's backed it to try and pretend he's allowed to give it a kicking. It all seems an attempt to raise his profile rather than save anyone from so called bad game.

 

The weapon degradation system in BOTW is a master stroke of game design and only strengthens the systems that the open world lives by. You're meant to mix things up and take advantage of all the systems and tricks that the world presents emphasising that this game is one big sandbox of fun and opportunity. As a result the game mixes up things that will empower you with things that will hinder you. Rain hinders climbing, Lighting hinders metal weapons, Fire hinders wood weapons. Everything is systems based. 

Weapons have a finite use to make you think about what weapon or tool you're going to use when. In many ways it's the same thing as the weapons in Halo:CE. The Alien weapons could no be replenished with new ammo and the Marine weapons were sparse, so you had to make what you had at hand work! The game is making you throw stuff away or deal with a situation with what you have at hand, and it makes for epic encounters.. just like in Halo.  

 

If you just got Mega Sword +4 and kept using it, it would be much duller and you'd never touch all this other cool stuff. It also means that you can instantly "delevel" if you're fighting weak enemies. You often best to switch to whatever weapon they drop and use that against them and save your fancier stuff. 

 

[angel]

@Kevvy Metal I dont have it so I have to take people's word on things, thats certainly the prevailing argument for the pro degredation, but at the same time I'd prefer not to find a new exciting weapon and have it break after 5 minutes. Your halo comparison is interesting though I've not heard that before, not a bad way of looking at it.

[squirtle]

29 minutes ago, angel said:

 

It is, arcade adventure is about the most loose term available for a videogame. It's an adventure game with arcade skill elements.

 

If you're really going to argue this irrelevant syntax based point by saying it's not an adventure, its open world, feel free.  Zelda is an adventure game, with arcadey controls.

It's really not, and to use such reductionist terms for one of the most important games in recent memory is beneath you.

[angel]

Just now, APM said:

It's really not, and to use such reductionist terms for one of the most important games in recent memory is beneath you.

 

It really is, it's an adventure game. It's not a reductionist term, it's an aggrandising term. Zelda games are adventures, they embrace that whole exploring spirit of adventure. It's a positive description by me that you're somehow taking as a bad thing for absolutely no reason.

[Kevvy Metal]

It is also worth pointing out that the weapons in BOTW have wildly varying health, it's not the case that each one has 20 hits and that's it. 

But yes, it's a system that hinders the player but the game is all the better for it. Some people may find that grating... basically not wanting anything that causes friction to the player, but I see that as being quite short-sighted. 

[George Clooney]

39 minutes ago, angel said:

I dont think any of his complaints regarding the character speech sounds are correct. It's a budget, kickstarted, unity game made on a (relative) shoestring, and it uses the same speech delivery method as it's predecessors.  Sterlings just nit picking.

 

Or put it this way, everyone backing it will have expected the babblespeak.  People have paid for a Banjo game.  Almost a decade ago, people were going mad that Nuts and Bolts wasnt a Banjo game, it was new. Now we get a Banjo game, they complain that it's a Banjo game.

 

What specifically did he day that is actually incorrect though? Or do you just mean you don't agree with him?

[angel]

Just now, George Clooney said:

 

What specifically did he day that is actually incorrect though? Or do you just mean you don't agree with him?

 

I think his review is mean spirited, he's shocked and upset by the speech even though everyone knew that would be the approach. He's used the game as a platform for himself for the last week or so, with his NDR breaking comment, and a 2/10 review. It's poor all round.

[angel]

6 minutes ago, Kevvy Metal said:

It is also worth pointing out that the weapons in BOTW have wildly varying health, it's not the case that each one has 20 hits and that's it. 

But yes, it's a system that hinders the player but the game is all the better for it. Some people may find that grating... basically not wanting anything that causes friction to the player, but I see that as being quite short-sighted. 

 

It sounds potentially dissapointing to me, just like when youre rupees are full and your reward for a side quest is...rupees. I'v read its annoying to have to dip into menus to swap constantly, whats the fastest way to switch weapons?

[mdn2]

2 minutes ago, angel said:

 

It sounds potentially dissapointing to me, just like when youre rupees are full and your reward for a side quest is...rupees. I'v read its annoying to have to dip into menus to swap constantly, whats the fastest way to switch weapons?

Select the weapon in the quick menu and throw it. It's like, 2 button presses. 

[Kevvy Metal]

It's the complete opposite of that. You're rewarded with new cool items constantly, but they "run out of ammo" essentially. 

All weapon, shield and bow switching is done via D-pad, as well and throwing away unwanted weapons. 

[angel]

@mdn So there's a fast way to do it without dipping into main menus? 

 

1 minute ago, Kevvy Metal said:

It's the complete opposite of that. You're rewarded with new cool items constantly, but they "run out of ammo" essentially. 

All weapon, shield and bow switching is done via D-pad, as well and throwing away unwanted weapons. 

 

okdoke, ta. Sounds ok then.

[mdn2]

You can't just swap weapons with what's in the chest, which is a bit of a bugbear. But it's easy to discard existing weapons. You don't need to go in the main menu.

[NEG]

36 minutes ago, Kevvy Metal said:

 

The weapon degradation system in BOTW is a master stroke of game design

 

 

Hahahahahahahahahhahah

 

Ahahahahahahah

 

Oh...oh God

 

 

Ahem.

 

Sterling's thoughts for the stupidly overhyped Botw were fine, and some more critical reviewers not caught up in Nintendo fanboyism, nostalgia and hype have given similar scores. The game has plenty of flaws that makes 7-8 out of 10 a very reasonable score for the game alongside it's better points.

 

Sterling's Yooka review? It's like a badly done late April Fool in comparison. Very surprising and the first time it's made me think he's doing it on purpose.

[Fatsam]

Arcade adventure is what Zelda type games were always know as back in the 80s. In returning to it's original open and non linear roots, Breath of the Wild takes the series closer to the old speccy ones I used to play. 3D Zelda games have never been more arcade adventure.

 

I did quite like the weapon degradation. It did encourage me to try different weapons and I got used to changing them and the way it interrupted the flow of battle stopped being an issue. I wouldn't have wanted them in any other Zelda, but see them as a good thing that suits this world. Not a masterstroke in game design, but something a bit different that works well.

[NEG]

Yup, not to the point that it's a problem (but it will annoy enough people in the early game for them to stop playing), but hardly the best way it could have been designed either.

 

Much like the narrative.

 

and the dungeons.

 

and the stamina bar.

 

and the clothes.

 

and the stables.

 

and the rain

 

and the koroks

 

and the music (besides the standouts of terray town and hyrule castle)

 

and yes, even the shrines. Half, if not more, are either 'you have already proven yourself' shrines or combat shrines. Calling some of the actual puzzles 'puzzles' is also pushing it, to put it politely.

 

There is plenty to nitpick and improve upon in BotW, as good as it is, and as glad as I am for the return to open design.

 

Spoiler

Mario 64 didn't have this many nitpicks for me though. Nor did Zelda OOT. They both remain in my top 5, BotW wouldn't be in my top 10, sorry.

 

[Made of Ghosts]

This is the first I've heard someone complain about the stables. What's wrong with the stables?

[NEG]

1 hour ago, Made of Ghosts said:

This is the first I've heard someone complain about the stables. What's wrong with the stables?

 

They needn't have been identical. Not just in looks, but what to expect inside. Will I remember any of them compared to the towns? Besides the one I can constantly trade meat for cash? Nope

 

Killed any excitement seeing new ones in the distance later on, a waste. 

[Quest]

The music in BotW is amazing, you maniac.

[NEG]

It has good tracks, just not as constant as any other Zelda, thanks to the concentration on piano ambience. 

I do love feeling in nature, don't get me wrong, it certainly fits what they were going for (although I did notice in the credits the lack of Koji Kondo this time around), but does it beat the soundtrack of any other Zelda when you judge the BotW soundtrack as a whole? Not even close

[Rudderless]

BOTW's soundtrack is a very different kind of soundtrack for a very different kind of Zelda game. Sure, it mightn't have as many immediately memorable themes, but within the game, it does so much to establish tone and atmosphere. A more traditional soundtrack simply wouldn't have worked. I think it's fantastic, and if it perhaps doesn't work as well out of context, that's because it's been specifically written as part of a whole.